Continuity mistake: Ethel's full name in this episode is Ethel Mae Potter; however in a earlier episode, Fred calls her Ethel Louise, and in another episode she is called Ethel Roberta.
Continuity mistake: When Ethel asks her old friend Billy to take a group photo of her with Fred and the Ricardos, Ethel poses with everyone as Billy takes only one shot of them together, but when Lucy reads the newspaper article Ethel is posed differently in the cropped "group" picture. (00:12:15 - 00:16:35)
Answer: There is no reason. It's a just a silly plot device, typical of the era. Women characters were often portrayed as making uninformed assumptions or decisions.
raywest ★